An excellent collection of stories, some familiar and some new, often written in dialect as though the reader were listening to them told around the hearth or tucked up in bed. Sure to appeal to the casual reader, as well as the scholar, they include afterwards to the stories detailing origins, archetypes and variations. A must have for any folk/fairytale library.

I do love a good fairy story, especially the old classics. This indepth look at the origin and subject matter is a great fresh look at the old classics.
I enjoyed the fairy tales and the alternate versions, but some of the history and analysis was a little heavy. It isn't the sort of book you can binge in a single sitting, but it is the sort of book you can read the tale and learn alternatives and back story to your childhood favourite.
Grab this book for a bedside table read and enjoy a fairy tale before bed.

The Watkins Book of English Folktales was a lovely collection. I particularly enjoyed the fact that each tale had a note of its source (i.e. when recorded and from whom) and also end notes offering commentary on the story including other tales it links to etc. I also appreciated the preservation of dialects and accents within the texts. Many of the tales were already familiar to me, albeit sometimes in slightly altered form, but a few I had not come across before. Overall, it is a nice addition to the library of anyone interested in English folklore. It gets 4 stars from me.

If you like, well-written, well-researched, thoroughly fascinating fairytales, this book is for you! I loved how the stories were laid out in this book and the information about the history, origin, and type of each story was included which I thought added a lot. A lot of these tales were familiar to me, but it was incredibly cool to read new ones and to get the history behind some of my childhood favorites (as well as to see how they differed from my own memory). Plus, Neil Gaiman's forward and the cover were really cool too!

We all know and love folktales and fairytales. There's a reason that these stories have persisted beyond centuries. The Watkins Book of English Folktales was both fun and interesting.

You get the classic stories that you love, but also with some history and backstory as to its origin. Plus, these folktales vary across cultures, so it's interesting to see the subtle changes or applications of characters in other stories.

Is it a book you'll finish in one sitting? It's unlikely (unless you're a history/English major or something). However, it is one of those that you'll find yourself going back to time and time again.

The Watkins Book of English Folktales is a well written and researched collection of folktales and the history/lore behind them.
While perhaps more well suited to research than a straight cover to cover read the writing style is enchanting and employed to splendid effect.
Fans of such works as Grimms fairy tales looking for a more in depth look into the origin a folktale/fairy tale are in for a real treat.

* the cover is absolutely stunning as well which bares mentioning in review as it is what drew me to the text to begin with.

This is an interesting book. It starts with a fairy tale you know and then gives you several more to read with the same characters.
Watkins Publishing and Net Galley let me read this book for review (thank you). It will be published October 11th.

Besides the fairy tales, there is a lot of information about who wrote them and when.

If you like fairy tales, you'll like this book! The tales they tell after the original story are fascinating!

great anthology of classic fairy tales! i grew up being obsessed with all things Grimm so this was a really fun nostalgic trip for me and some interesting background on the stories

The Watkins Book of English Folktales is a beautiful collection of authentic English folktales. There are even notes on their origins and how they've changed along the way. Highly recommended!

I love folklore, myths and legends so I loved this book, although it was definitely heavy reading. It was very well researched and I loved reading about the origins of ones that I already knew as well as reading about ones that I didnt know

Not only a book about English folk tales but where they came from in from whom they originally came. From all the folktales told by grandmothers, servants nannies and one zone imagination and although this isn’t a complete encyclopedia of English folktales it is a good effort towards that game. There were even a few English folktales that made their way to Denmark that were in the book. From the known to the unknown and the known, unknown versions. Like snow white who stayed with Robert as a post to midgets then tell me Tik Tok who is the English version of Rumpelstiltskin. The stories go on and on and where they came from and who wrote them is just as interesting as the folktales them selves. I really enjoyed this book I love books like this and this one did not disappoint. I highly recommend it if you love folktales and history you’ll love this part. I received this book from NetGalley and the publisher but I am leaving this review voluntarily please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

The Watkins Book of English Folk Tales is so neat. However, readers should be clear on what it is before picking it up. This book studies the classic folk tale, providing history, context, and various versions of each story. A lot of scholarly work has been done here, which is great! But I wouldn't sit down and read this out loud at bedtime. (Not saying anyone would try to read this to children, adults can have bedtime stories too.) Not only will you have to sift through all of the author's hard work to get to the actual folk tales, but these stories in their original forms are, as we know, weird and dark as heck. Some of the stories are also written in the vernacular in which they were originally told, which is really cool, but can be a little hard to read on a day when your brain is feeling slow. Overall, this is a heavier "studying" experience than I expected, but a fun exploration nonetheless.

A collection like this isn’t really something you read from cover to cover, it’s more a book you’d have to use in perhaps your academic life, being able to catalogue different types of folk tales into groups (like Watkins have).

When I studied folklore as a part of my Ethnology degree, I learnt that there are only seven types of stories – that seven types of story structures are used to construct millions of stories in every part of the world. The structure of, let’s say a hero story, will be the same whether it has been told in Scandinavia, South-east Asia or in the Amazon. That’s incredible.

This collection then is very useful, and I very much enjoyed that it included the narrator, sometimes the date of the telling and place. That took me closer to the story and really showcased that the stories have been part of a culture. Very interesting!

Thank you to NetGalley and Watkins Publishing for the advance reader copy.

A reissue of The Penguin Book of English Folklore, this is a great collection of stories with notes about their origins.

This is a book for you, if you like English folktales, and if you like small tidbits about hove the stories came to be etc

This was interesting but I found it rather repetitive. Enjoyable though and worth a read. Very informative

The Watkins Book of English Folktales is tied with my #1 favorite arc I have received this year. I am ABSOLUTELY purchasing the hard copy version when it is released.

"The Watkins Book of English Folktales" by Neil Philip is composed of over 100 English folk-tales captured in the manner in which they were first told centuries ago. This book is unique in that it is INCREDIBLY easy to enter into this surreal world. It's 2022 but I really did feel like I entered a time machine and was transported to a time when people believed in witches and goblins an giants and monsters and ghosts of all kinds. This is already going to be a re-read for me.

The biggest part of my enjoyment about this book is the obvious extensive dedication and research that Neil Philip did when putting this book together. He understood the assignment! Not only is it entertaining, but we are provided with introductions and source notes for each story that illustrates each story’s journey from word-of-mouth to pen on paper, and what happened to them on the way. Aaaah, I love it! Entertain AND educate me at the same time? Sign me up!

These stories are among the BEST short stories of all time (IMO) and I truly appreciate all of the behind-the-scenes work Philip put into this book. From the gorgeous cover art to the sourcing for all of his tales, this truly is a masterpiece worthy of buying the day it is released.

5 stars absolutely.

LOVE LOVE LOVE.

My thanks to both NetGalley and the publisher Watkins Publishing for an advance copy of this collection of stories and tales of England.

As I child I was blessed to have a Grandfather who loved to tell stories. Usually they featured a man with my Grandfather's name, mostly in Galway, Ireland where he was born, and I assume where his Grandfather told him tales. The hero of the tales could out fight, out drink and out think whatever was against him, soldiers, landlords or other weird things. I remember the telling of the stories, more than I remember the stories themselves, the way he would twist and point and his voice going up and down. They were important not just for entertainment, but for forging a bond with me my brother and himself, like all stories should. Neil Philip in his book The Watkins Book of Folktales is a collection of folk and fairy tales passed down through families, villages and travellers who happen to be sharing a fire on a long winter's night, bringing everyone closer until the final the end.

This is a very comprehensive collection ranging from early to late eras, sometimes featuring the same character and same deeds only told in different ways. Such as the numerous stories of Jack the Giant Killer. The beanstalks might go to different places, the golden goose might not appear but the fate of the giant is usually the same. There are stories of being nice to strangers, and being rewarded with gold and wives, while other ruder brothers might fall down a well, or be crushed in an old mind. Witches appear capturing little boys, who escape with tricks, or just a well turned phrase. Merlin comes to a farmer asking to buy his horse for the knights who wait in the mountain emerging when their nation needs them most. Plus spooky stories, and one from Charles Dickens that was told to him as a bedtime tale, which seems rather mean.

The stories are fun, and will seem very familiar to readers. The best is the annotations that accompany the tales, giving a history and a sense of where the stories came from, or how many versions might be around. The book also has as history of folktales, and how certain narrators and other collectors might not have been on the up and up about where there stories came from. This is a reissue of The Penguin Book of English Folklore, so a new introduction by the author discusses the current scholarship of folktales, and what has changed from over the years since the books publication. In addition, there is also an introduction from Neil Gaiman, discussing how the original book helped him write a story and eased his homesickness.

A very fun and sometimes spooky collection of folktales. Some stories might be a little bit much for some readers, younger ones especially, but I really think this would be a good gift for people of all ages, especially for fans of fantastical literature. Or for burgeoning writers for ideas and inspiration.

As someone who loves a good folktale (creepy or not) this book was perfect for what I was looking for. A great glimpse into the origins of some of the most known stories out there.

Such a nostalgic read just in time for the fall! I loved reading some of the folktales that I remembered hearing about since I was a kid, but also discovering new stories. If you are familiar with the classic folktales and fairy tales, then this book is a great companion read for you. Philip does a great job of showcasing the way folktales around the world are all rooted together in some of the stories they share.